Hinged box

ABSTRACT

A hinged box is disclosed, which is characterized in that the body portion and the hinge are made as a single piece (such as of a plastic material, by moulding). The hinge integral with the body portion has two adjoining sections having oppositely directed radii of curvature.

United States Patent 1 Mari [54] HINGED BOX [76] Inventor: Enzo Mari, Piazzale Baracca 10,

Milan, Italy 221 Filed: Sept.9, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 70,723

[52] US. Cl. ..220/31 R [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 45/15, 865d 51/10 [58] Field of Search ..220/31 R, 31 S [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,493,279 1/1950 Wright ..220/31 R X 51 Feb. 20, 1973 1,600,031 9/1926 Barratt ..220/31 R 2,685,983 8/1954 Kelley 220/31 R 2,520,508 8/1950 M0rrison.... ..220/31 S 1,679,122 7/1928 Fries ..220l3l R Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT A hinged box is disclosed, which is characterized in that the body portion and the hinge are made as a single piece (such as of a plastic material, by moulding). The hinge integral with the body portion has two adjoining sections having oppositely directed radii of curvature.

5 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED FEB 2 01975 7 SHEET 5 BF 5 HINGED BOX This invention relates to a box incorporating a hinge so as to permit the easy and ready insertion and removal of a lid for said box.

Usually boxes, which, in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, belong to common decorative articles for apartments, offices etc. have a lid affixed to the box by means of one or more hinges. The hinges are fastened by means of screws, nails etc., and, in addition to being an obstacle against the easy removal of the lid from the box, are a point of weakness for same, especially in the types of reduced sizes and made of a material which has a poor mechanical resistance inasmuch as, nearly compulsory, the relevant hinges are light and thus show a poor resistance to the repeated stresses during use.

From the points of view of economy and ease of commercial manufacture, another serious defect is originated by the fact that three discrete pieces must be manufactured, that is, the body of the box, the lid and the hinge and these require, in addition, time and labor involving a first cost for assembling. This fact, of course, has a bearing on the cost and the quality of the end product and constitute a detrimental circumstance.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a hinged box as a single piece, which permits the lid to be easily and rapidly mounted and removed without resorting to screws, nails and the like, while maintaining the operability unaltered and equal to that of the conventional hinged boxes, and permitting the separation of the lid from the box body, for example for cleaning purposes.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinged box which can be moulded as a single piece with a plastics material.

A further object is to provide a hinged box of the kind referred to above, which is sturdy and has a long service life.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention, which will become more clearly apparent from the ensuing description of a few preferred embodiments, are achieved by a hinged box which is characterized in that it comprises a body portion, in which the hollow space of the box is formed, at least a guiding member lying in a plane perpendicular to the side walls of the body portion aforesaid, said member comprising, starting from the point of connection with the body portion, a first curved section having a radius equalling the distance of the point of connection from the upper edge of the body portion, and a second section having a curvature in a direction opposite to that of the first section, and a lid adapted to close the inner hollow space, said lid having at least a through-opening whose contour matches the contour of the cross-sectional line of the guiding member.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of the box according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2, the lid being separated from the body portion of the box.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the box body.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the box with its lid applied, partly in section.

FIG. 6 is a detail view, in fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the box according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view, partly in section and with the lid applied, of the box of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views which respectively correspond to FIGS. 7 and 8, of an alternative embodiment of the box according to the present invention.

Having initial reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, a box 11 is shown, comprising a body 12, a hingeing rib 13 and a lid 14.

The body 12 of the box comprises a rest base 15 and, in the example shown, is of semicylindrical shape as delimited by a planar sidewall 16, which slopes slightly downwards for a reason to be explained later. Perpendicularly of the sidewall 16 protrudes the guiding member consisting of the rib 13 aforesaid, which comprises a core portion 17 whose upper edge has a flange 18, so that the rib 13 has a T shaped cross-section. As can be clearly seen in FIG. '1, the upper flanged edge of the rib 13 is shaped so as to provide a curved portion 19 projecting above the horizontal plane containing the upper edge of the body portion 12, said curved portion being terminated with an appropriate radius to connect it to the planar wall 16. It is important to observe that said radius comprises a first curved section 19A having its center on the upper edge of the box, in the present case on the axis 21, and a second section 19B having a curvature in the opposite direction, though not limited to any particular value of the curvature. This configuration is essential to ensure that the lid may be easily removed, as will be seen hereinafter, but, at the same time, that the lid may be withdrawn only when so desired, that is to say, by effecting a particular movement which cannot be performed accidentally.

The other end of the rib 13 is terminated flush with the base 15 of the body 12, the stability of the box being accordingly increased. The cross-section of the rib 13 can be clearly seen in FIG. 4, whereas FIG. 5 shows so much clearly that the lid has an opening 20 which has an outline matching the cross-sectional outline of the rib 13. It is thus apparent that, to unite the lid 14 to the body 12 of the box, it is sufficient to insert the lid starting from the free (or base) end of the rib 13 and to cause it to slide along the flanged edge 18 until going past the curved portion 19 to reach the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1, wherein it closes the ho]- low space of the box.

When it is desired to open the box, that is, to lift the lid, it is sufficient to press the lid on both sides of the opening 20, and thus the lid swings about the axis defined by the outer upper edge of the wall 16 of the body 12 of the box, until the lid reaches the position shown in chain lines in FIG. 1, a position which is stable by virtue of the above mentioned slope of the wall 16.

When it is desired to withdraw the lid 14 from the box body 12, it is sufficient to repeat in a reversed direction the sliding motion of the lid 14 along the rib 13.

It should be observed that also in this particular case the rib 13 acts also as a handle for the box 11.

Considering now the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, wherein the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 1 to 6 have been used, but increased by 100, the box 111 comprises a body portion 112, which is substantially parallelepipedal, and two ribs 113 having a T- shaped cross-section, that is, one which comprises a core 117 running perpendicularly to the wall 116 and a flange 118 which is the exact counterpart of the edge flange 18 of the rib 13 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 6.

In this case, the lid 114 (FIG. 8) has two openings 120, which are adapted to match the ribs 113 in the same way as described above.

Lastly, the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 (in which parts corresponding to those of FIGS. 1 to 6 have been connoted by the same reference numerals but increased by 200), differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 in that two guiding members 213 are provided, having a circular cross-section with a curvilinear axis with the same trend (that is, parts having oppositely directed curvatures 219A and 219B) as defined for the rib 13 of FIG. 1. In this case the openings 220 are circular and are not to be connected by means of a slot to the adjoining edge of the lid 214, since a core portion is lacking such as that indicated at 17 (or 117) in the embodiment described and shown hereinbefore. It should be observed, more particularly, that in this case the members 213 have the only function of guiding members rather than that of handles, even though they warrant -a complete removability while simultaneously preventing any accidental withdrawal of the lid from the body portion 212.

It is understood that the embodiments shown herein are only illustrative of the present invention and a number of modifications and changes can be introduced, which are mere mechanical equivalents within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hinged box comprising: a body portion having side walls forming an upwardly open cavity; a lid for covering the cavity, said lid in the closed position having a portion extending laterally beyond a portion of the side walls; at least one lid guide member lying in a plane perpendicular to the side walls of said body portion and connected to said side wall portion; said guide member, starting from the point of connection with the body portion, having a first curvilinear section exhibiting an upwardly facing concave surface and a downwardly facing convex surface, the radius of said section being equal to the distance from the upper edge of said side wall portion to the point of connection of the guide member with said side wall section, said guide member further having a second curvilinear section connected to the first section and disposed above the level of the upper edge of said side wall portion, said second section exhibiting an upwardly facing convex surface and a downwardly facing concave surface; said portion of said lid having an opening therethrough corresponding to the contour of the cross section of said guide member; and said guide member projecting through said opening and cooperating with the periphery of said opening to allow said lid to pivot about the upper edge of said side wall portion during opening and closing movement and to allow removal and replacement of the lid only by simultaneously rotating and sliding the lid along the curvature of said second curvilinear section.

2. A box as in claim 1 wherein said guide member is a rib having a T-shaped cross section, said rib extending vertically downwardly from said second curvilinear sergion thereof a distance equal to the height of said he y portion; and wherein said opening through said lid is connected by a slot to the adjoining edge of said lid, the distance between said opening and said adjoining edge being not longer than the distance by which said rib projects.

3. A box as in claim 1 wherein said circular in cross section.

4. A box as in claim 1 wherein said side wall portion is planar and is inclined from top to bottom toward the interior of said body portion.

5. A box as in claim 1 wherein there are two of said guide members.

guide member is 

1. A hinged box comprising: a body portion having side walls forming an upwardly open cavity; a lid for covering the cavity, said lid in the closed position having a portion extending laterally beyond a portion of the side walls; at least one lid guide member lying in a plane perpendicular to the side walls of said body portion and connected to said side wall portion; said guide member, starting from the point of connection with the body portion, having a first curvilinear section exhibiting an upwardly facing concave surface and a downwardly facing convex surface, the radius of said section being equal to the distance from the upper edge of said side wall portion to the point of connection of the guide member with said side wall section, said guide member further having a second curvilinear section connected to the first section and disposed above the level of the upper edge of said side wall portion, said second section exhibiting an upwardly facing convex surface and a downwardly facing concave surface; said portion of said lid having an opening therethrough corresponding to the contour of the cross section of said guide member; and said guide member projecting through said opening and cooperating with the periphery of said opening to allow said lid to pivot about the upper edge of said side wall portion during opening and closing movement and to allow removal and replacement of the lid only by simultaneously rotating and sliding the lid along the curvature of said second curvilinear section.
 1. A hinged box comprising: a body portion having side walls forming an upwardly open cavity; a lid for covering the cavity, said lid in the closed position having a portion extending laterally beyond a portion of the side walls; at least one lid guide member lying in a plane perpendicular to the side walls of said body portion and connected to said side wall portion; said guide member, starting from the point of connection with the body portion, having a first curvilinear section exhibiting an upwardly facing concave surface and a downwardly facing convex surface, the radius of said section being equal to the distance from the upper edge of said side wall portion to the point of connection of the guide member with said side wall section, said guide member further having a second curvilinear section connected to the first section and disposed above the level of the upper edge of said side wall portion, said second section exhibiting an upwardly facing convex surface and a downwardly facing concave surface; said portion of said lid having an opening therethrough corresponding to the contour of the cross section of said guide member; and said guide member projecting through said opening and cooperating with the periphery of said opening to allow said lid to pivot about the upper edge of said side wall portion during opening and closing movement and to allow removal and replacement of the lid only by simultaneously rotating and sliding the lid along the curvature of said second curvilinear section.
 2. A box as in claim 1 wherein said guide member is a rib having a T-shaped cross section, said rib extending vertically downwardly from said second curvilinear section thereof a distance equal to the height of said body portion; and wherein said opening through said lid is connected by a slot to the adjoining edge of said lid, the distance between said opening and said adjoining edge being not longer than the distance by which said rib projects.
 3. A box as in claim 1 wherein said guide member is circular in cross section.
 4. A box as in claim 1 wherein said side wall portion is planar and is inclined from top to bottom toward the interior of said body portion. 